


This is the life that chose you

by megyal



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-23
Updated: 2014-04-23
Packaged: 2018-01-20 13:30:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1512323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megyal/pseuds/megyal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>A farmhouse, just like this; a rare quiet night, just like this; and a group of individuals. Not like <i>these</i> three… but close enough.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	This is the life that chose you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [suitablyskippy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/suitablyskippy/gifts).



> There's some discussion of marriage and attraction, but no sexual or smut content, just as suitablyskippy requested!

"Wait," Suigetsu said as he yanked Kubikiribōchō out of one of their attackers. Karin was nowhere to be seen, which was fine, and Jūgo rampaged about a stone's throw away, just the way he ought to. "Are you telling me that you prefer guys?"

Sasuke glared in his general direction; he had about four of their opponents trapped in a complex array of wires and he sent fire down those sturdy strings. He watched them burn and scream for a moment, before releasing the wires and drawing his chokutō. Lighting danced in complex spirals along the shining blade and struck two more of the group which had decided to attack them on their journey this morning. Their faces lit up with streamers of blue and their bodies jerked in a frantic dance.

"What," Sasuke said to Suigetsu, because he had no idea what the little asshole was talking about. They hadn't even been having a conversation. As a matter of fact, up to five minutes ago, they'd been simply walking along this dusty, tree-lined road; no one had been saying _anything_ (well, Suigetsu had been complaining, but that was background noise at this point in time), and then these folks had decided that today was a great day to try and take down Hebi. Off to the right, the sound of crumbling rock and crashing trees drifted towards their position, and Jūgo bellowed with his usual mixture of furious delight. Suigetsu glanced around with some satisfaction on the bodies currently strewn around the clearing. A small smile twitched on his lips, that single jutting tip of tooth giving him an odd air of naïve sweetness. This was utter foolishness, of course: Suigetsu was as far from _sweet_ as the east was from the west.

"You know!" Suigetsu exclaimed and he wrinkled his nose as if _Sasuke's_ the one being absolutely ridiculous. About six more missing-nin dropped down out of seemingly nowhere, and Suigetsu whooped, the massive weapon flashing in his grip. Sasuke took one step back as one of the nin kicked at his chest and he grabbed that leg, twisting so that the ankle-bone snapped. He dropped the screaming shinobi and blocked a combination of fist- and knee-strikes from yet another. Overhead, the trees formed a circle, leaves demarcating this clearing. The bright blue sky simmered with distant yet unassuming beauty. For a moment, Sasuke thought they could be fighting near home.

 _Near Konoha_ , is what he meant to think.

"Stop talking," Sasuke told Suigetsu, because he didn't feel like hearing Suigetsu talk right now. Generally speaking, Sasuke wished that everyone ever would _just stop talking_ , but he didn't have that kind of luck.

"No, seriously. Remember the other night? No, wait. Last night, it was last night."

Sasuke absently elbowed someone who had crept up behind him, right in the side of their neck; he then slipped to one side as weapons with sharp edges zipped past him, almost ripping into his cloak. He remembered last night mostly because Suigetsu had insisted on cooking their meal for the evening.

It had been horrible.

\--

"No meat," Suigetsu had announced, shoving the bowls of steaming food over to them. "Eggplant. Found 'em in the garden back there."

This farmhouse they were in had been recently abandoned. This meant that the occupants had heard that the Conqueror of Orochimaru had approached this little village just east of the Northern Hideout from where Sasuke had retrieved Jūgo, and like nearly everyone in the community, they had simply vacated the premises. The house was small, and meanly built; it seemed to have been nailed together by someone who had closed their eyes whilst doing so, and a cold wind seeped in between the ill-fitting slats.

"Why are we not eating meat?" Karin had demanded, her upper lip twisted into a disgusted curl. "There were a couple of chickens out there! I can hear them right now!"

"No. Meat." Suigetsu folded his arms over his scrawny chest, his eyes wide open to glare at Karin. They sat around a low table in a small space just to the left of the kitchen, with a very low ceiling. A few candles, set in the middle of the table's scarred surface, threw surprisingly cheerful light over the cramped space.

Karin peered into the bowl set in front of her, poking the mysterious green lumps with her chopsticks. "Who decided we shouldn't eat meat, anyway?"

"I did!" Suigetsu snapped as Sasuke reached for his own utensils. "I'm going vegetarian, and if you don't like it, then _you cook what you like_."

"Whatever," Karin said and took a bite of the meal. Her face contorted comically and she gagged, swallowing the mouthful with what appeared to be painful effort. "Oh, this is awful."

Sasuke chewed the mouthful of eggplant thoughtfully. It _was_ awful. Suigetsu had apparently thrown in all sorts of spicy seasoning, while ensuring that the eggplant remained bitter and only halfway cooked. 

"Maybe he's trying to poison us," Sasuke suggested and Suigetsu scowled. He took a bite himself and ate it with an air of great challenge. To Sasuke's left, Jūgo consumed his serving in a determined fashion, hand moving from the bowl to his mouth with steady regularity.

"Jūgo likes it," Suigetsu pointed out. Jūgo shrugged.

"Tastes just like what they gave us in the Hideout," Jūgo said and Suigetsu made a strangled sound of annoyance. "Doesn't matter if it tastes good or not. It's still food."

Karin pushed her bowl away and said, "I don't cook, and even I know that this is _swill_."

Suigetsu drew himself up, gripping his chopsticks the way he would hold Kubikiribōchō. "You know, you _should_ learn to cook," he said in very silken tones. "Sasuke really likes girls who can cook. It might be a plus in your favour."

A red flush attacked Karin's cheeks and her head whipped around so that she could stare at Sasuke; he stared back at her, chewing a piece of underdone eggplant.

"I don't care," Sasuke said when he managed to swallow, and maybe Jūgo had the right idea: one should keep plowing one's way through the meal. It was sustenance, in some way, and being a shinobi actually meant not being as susceptible as civilians to upset stomachs. Chakra was good for a whole range of situations.

"You don't care?" Suigetsu turned his bright regard from Karin, and fixed on Sasuke. "You don't care for girls who can't cook, or you don't care for _girls_?"

"I _don't care_ ," Sasuke repeated. He stared at Suigetsu for a long time until the brat got the hint, and turned away back to his own bowl with a sniff.

"I'll get some water," Jūgo offered and lumbered up from his cross-legged position, and there was something about this whole moment that threw Sasuke's mind back to about four or five years ago. A farmhouse, just like this; a rare quiet night, just like this; and a group of individuals.

Not like _these_ three… but close enough.

\--

"I'll get some water," Kakashi-sensei had said and got up from the small, square table; his lanky body ambled off to the left, where a long, L-shaped counter held a deep sink. Team 7 had been assigned a mission to repair a fairly large house in a narrow compound; some rogue nin had rampaged through one of the villages on the outskirts of Konoha a few months ago and had murdered the elderly couple who had lived there. The children of the two victims had asked for help in the restoration so that they could sell the property. Though most of the belongings had been removed, Team 7 had encountered the detritus of a life conjoined as they worked: little notes, a few ink-drawings and, inexplicably, a single large boot standing by itself in the corner of one ruined room.

It was now late evening, and Kakashi-sensei had suggested that they stay at the house instead of going back to Konoha. This _was_ a mission, as mundane as it seemed, and they weren't expected to report in to the Mission Desk immediately. Within the kitchen cupboards, Naruto had located a few clay jars which held some dried ingredients such as herbs and noodles… even a bottle of dark, oily-looking sauce which didn't smell too bad. Sasuke had started up a fire within the ancient clay hearth in the corner of the kitchen, stoking the flames using the holes at the front of the low stove. Kakashi had wandered outside, returning with a handful of wild mushrooms and a small rabbit; Sakura had taken a quick trek down the road and returned from the closet neighbours with a few borrowed pots, plates and chopsticks, and even a tall pitcher with a broken handle and a few glass jars.

In about an hour, squatting in front of the stove, Naruto had actually whipped up some kind of soup which smelled and tasted surprisingly appetising. He insisted on serving them at the table, a squat lamp throwing out strong light over the table and causing their shadows to rest comfortably against the walls.

"This is _good_ ," Sakura had said with not a little surprise. Naruto had seemed pleased and disgruntled at the same time, distracted enough not to notice that Kakashi-sensei had moved a little slower than usual to move his mask in order to eat; Sasuke had caught a fleeting glimpse of his face, the curve of a smile on a thin, worn mouth.

"I can cook!" Naruto had declared through a mouthful of noodles, blond brows wrenched down over his eyes in a scowl. "I mean, I eat out a lot 'cause it's easy, but I taught myself how to cook!"

Sasuke had rolled his eyes; for no good reason, really. As usual, Naruto had managed to spot the expression and take offence.

"You better learn to cook, too, you idiot!" Naruto brandished his chopsticks at Sasuke, bristling all over. "Or you'll get married and then your wife will think you're more stupid than you look!"

"Suppose his wife likes to cook?" Sakura had wondered, blushing. "Then he won't have to cook for her."

"He doesn't deserve a lady who can cook," Naruto had grumbled. "Besides, he'd probably marry a girl just like him, stupid hair and all. Always about missions, and stuff." His tone grew distant, the way he did when he was daydreaming. "She'd probably end up being ANBU or something. A kunoichi like that doesn't have any time to do regular stuff, you know. 'Cause she's out on missions, too. Like my neighbour, she's married to a _civilian_ , and--"

"I'm not interested in marriage," Sasuke had told them coldly, wondering how these conversations always seemed to focus on _him_. They were shinobi in training, and yet they had the most nonsensical conversations, _all the time_.

Naruto had paused, his gaze bright on Sasuke's face as his mouth fell halfway open. "Not to a lady?" he finally asked, returning to his loud chewing. "How about a guy?"

Kakashi had actually _laughed_ at that, but not in mocking way. It was a warm, quiet laugh and low enough to be classified as a vibration more than anything else; in any case, it seemed unusual enough coming from their sensei, that all three of them just stared at him.

"I'll get some water," Kakashi said and unfolded his long limbs and going towards the wide sink of the kitchen. He filled the pitcher with water and walked back with it in one hand, the glass jars held loosely in the fingers of the other. They all watched as he poured the water quickly, handing them a jar each.

"This is a nice night," Kakashi said as he settled back against the pile of their gear. He pulled his knees up and seemed quite comfortable, generally. His visible eye drooped a little. "Nice being here with all of you."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, and slurped noisily. Sakura elbowed him in the side and he grunted, closing one eye and squinting at her with the other. "It _is_ nice, _mostly_ ," he finished, pointedly.

"Best mission so far." Sakura raised her glass with a small grin on her face.

Sasuke only grunted; he had nothing to add. 

\--

"If possible, I can cook tomorrow," Sasuke heard himself offer and then he sighed as Suigetsu dissolved into peals of laughter. Karin and Jūgo adopted nearly identical expressions of polite disbelief. "Fine. Starve, then. See if I care."

"No matter," Jūgo said, pulling his legs up so that he could wrap his arms around his knees. "We'll manage."

"This feels kinda normal," Suigetsu commented and Karin reached over the table to punch his shoulder. "Ouch! What was that for?!"

Sasuke folded his legs and closed his eyes. 

\--

"I prefer _no-one_ ," Sasuke told Suigetsu as Karin and Jūgo rejoined them in the middle of the road. Bodies of the attacking nin lay quite still around them and out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke could see Karin eyeing them closely, pushing her glasses up her nose. A bird let out a cautious call above their heads. "So stop asking."

"Whatever!" Suigetsu sang out, slinging his monstrous blade onto his back. He grinned in his shark-like way, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "I figured as much, anyway. Can we go now?"

Sasuke felt like sitting down, folding his legs and closing his eyes; instead, he turned on one heel and set off, walking towards the blazing sun.

_fin_

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the request: _I love the way that, no matter where he goes or how terrible things get, Sasuke always seems to find himself the humourless centre of a completely absurd team. Gen fic based on Hebi/Taka would be brilliant, as would fic drawing on the parallels between it and Team 7._


End file.
